Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-02-17
NOT IN THE PROSPECTUS,
Some Facts Not Told. by BirminS-
ham Boomers.
Fron TIE Nean y-lrk T.mes.

b1kil
From the Near Yrk Tunes.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA, Feb. 10.-Hayine
Gained soma idea OF the vast extent o.
the mineral resources OF this regIon-too
vast for full estimatiOn; having noted
Birmingham's proximity to coal and iron
ore and limestone, all the needed ingre
dientsor pig iron making; having seen
not only the juxtsposition and the abun.
dance Of this raw material, but the sub
stantial richness of it also; having
followed the plans and the
wonderful financial realization
of the syndicate that scooped in these
original acres and converted barrenness
tito "choice building sites" leCus glance
row at what Birmingham as clty-as a
place to live in-has come to be. To tell
Tia truth of Birmingham town wont be
al one string OF flattery. Unvarnished
fast, however, isn't a drug on the Biz
miagham market just yet. The map, all
galdily colored; the pamphlet prospectus
with its wealth of superlatives and
sky-high adjectives: the abundant
resl estate agent, riottng in decla-
maion and deep-lunged lies; the
syndicate man, the apostle of hundred
1 intsres ts--the boomer universal; these
alt the DISORDERS of Birmingham that
Blmingham herself provides. The mau
wn believes all they say, or the half of
u what they say, ought to get guardian
riglt away; the man who puts out money
& on their say-so merely, that man was
male to mourn; it were base flattery to
N callhim an ass; he'll always be lonesome
III out,ide OF a lunatic asylum.
III Yet there are such men, hosts of them,
n with never 30 much as thought OF in
II yeslgatlon, with apparently nocare what
II ever as to the sense or the nonsense OF
SCI the stories they hear, who are sending or
q bringing thousands and hundreds of
q Golsands of dollars here daily for sim
i Ssment." If signs do not fail they'll
i ind all the Judgment day they want in
Il this world without waiting for the next.
II Now, here is good, straight0ut, honest
Il statement to begin with. Birmingham is
q nota safe place to live In. "Birmingham
is situated in valley undulatory and
III naturally drained" That is what the
prospectus says. Wsll, there is no arti-
# fetal drainage, that is sure. And if the
lack of sewers, the ABSENCE even of rude
Ed cutters to dispose q Stops and filth, the
litter carelessness every sanitary need
1t this means "naf1ral drainage" then
batural drainage is just what BlrmiDg-
ham has ana has lbundantly. There is
40 river, big OF small, no water
course here at all. Simply de-
scribed, Birmingham town is lust
Ane fiat stretth of soil hemmed
d n by mountain sides suddenly rising
from her limits. The mountains drain on
Birmingham; Birmingham drains on her.
8elt Were thee even an insignificant
y reek at hand sanitary necessities could
be readily attended. AS natural con-
itions do exist,in this fiat territory
anything akin te a satisfactory sewerage
h stem Will require the expenditure of
immense sums OF money. One or two
5uny, cheap and ahOrtive schemes have
piled. Birmingham SO far has been too
luch on the rush, too much given over to
00mlng, to think or care apparently for
jyial things like this OF making her
Zones habiable.
The result is that to-day when an OBJ
krVer goes through the streets he IS
rgely obliViOus to everything save that
mas nose. Pools of green and slimy
alter, nastiuess trickling from back
ard to back yard, hogs running loose in
cry part OF the town Gall unsusDiciOus
al they are not in tit and appropriate
J. streets that are only stretches of
J clay, unsafe Tor light wagons, unfit
neaVy ones-stench, stencil, stencil!
the ground, in the air-stench eyery-
ere, stencil eternal! Thirty thousand
cp!e massed in one topsy-turvy COM
lnlly; $4,000 people with no running
Ter within miles, with no sewerage
tIem. with soil soaked till it Is fabby
W MIN, with nastiness accumulated
accommodating in very lakes. This
aus ana can mean but one
nsi ana That one thing is that
mihgham bids defiance to the sternest
~ natural laws, courts disease, tempts
uemlc. The cholera that nipped the
Years of her
or 1900 people were here, taught it's
loie sson in vain. Men fell bv
, es IN ner very streets then, unWarned
Aeir DANGER; but with all that deadly
eiience tnere Is no more security
ns1 the same epidemic now than
was then, nor so much, for where
was little community at that
.ueIe Is at present driving city of
- " SoG's' Men oYertexed by excite
y "hu "eafled by trying schemes of
II Vy-maKlng crowd here now sensitive
il sease' almost nervously PROSTATE the
j OF them.
lu now do these $4,000 1--we? Badly
~. new 1ork's tenement system is
az URINE worse. With ner boast
O ~. PoPalatlon-2nd | entertain no
endC oO'oO0 Is a ialr estimate-Bir-
~ .u"n' mas not house room for Ia. 0OO,
~ V t- room mean an accommodation
y - on4 nealth point OF view. II
" W comfortable house room 1 would
" cut down the estimate at least 80
Cent. further. There are mighty few
ot',s mere that may IN any sense
vain 10 mention as homes. Yes.
are some handsome RESIDENCES.
r'V ,S tells you quite all absut
sney are few; 1t won't tire YOU to
o,os.I Ihe separate description OF each
rP 'eIy ohe OF them, and Won can re-
9et' Zoe, tnat they have sewers of a
lining Stops on the rest of the town.
,ue houses where they live who are
a. u company princes or financial
riheS' tnose houses are not altogether
ioeo as they might be in The nros-
asor,d dHey are small, they are un-
G. nNan n9 IA appearance, they are rude.
~ apIySseIpy tnls is not fit reason for
INV. uhelatlon here. In other towns
nie condition obtains. Birmingham
49, 90 GO no exception to the rule of moor
II ~ t1 LIN, the poor man. In thu pig IRON
kd ~ tIttsburg and in Pennsylvania
ld s,o .oWns 1t Is worse. What is
Nv "antVely new here is dilapidated
MIN q b,t nere every house, however
! " y rC.i nut IL may be, is hotel. There
iaya FAN ny room In the place that il
. vi 10 iieu, rammed. damned to over
=, 49,, ana day by day this unwhole-
thf ha u'Vloh grows more offensive. SO
= zaS ieal estate speculation mo.
- ns = etery AFFAIR that Birmingham
clIy without houses. Though
\ RI lg lois sell AT Nav Vo,,r - H.. 'N'~